Angel From My Nightmare, I Miss You
by RavenHeart777
Summary: Zuko's thoughts leading up to, during, and slightly after the season finale. Songfic. Zutara. Rated K plus. review please! i've brought the rating down on this one, it's pretty tame.


Angel From My Nightmare, I Miss You.

A ZukoXKatara Song-Fic

Lyrics: Blink-182

Song: I Miss You

Author: Raven Heart 777

**Author's note: Hi! This is my first ever fan fic, so please bear with me. The song _I Miss You _sort of reminded me of the last few episodes in the series. It starts when Zuko is sick and delusional, (all written from Zuko's point of view, obviously) and continues until around the end of the season finale. Please, _please_, tell me what you think of it. I hope you like it but obviously, advice, general comments and questions are all welcome. I would like to add that this probably will not be awesome, seeing as only a few of the lines really inspired me to write this, and the actual song part of the song-fic, takes a while to get to.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own anybody. Ownership is an illusion.**

* * *

Zuko was sick, delusional, trapped in nightmares so real he could not do anything but scream soundlessly as every monster and demon he had ever heard of, and a few he had invented for himself, attacked him in every possible manner. Claws of ice and fire slammed him repeatedly into the ground and slashed him; joints were pulled so far in such wrong ways. Dragons whispered to him in voices he knew, his uncle's which echoed from the mouth of a dragon as red as the flames he had seen leap from the mouth of The Dragon of the West, told him not to give up, to keep trying, to keep fighting. And his sister's voice, which dripped from the fangs of a dragon as blue as the lightning and fire she was so proud of, telling him that he was weak, tired, that he should lay down and die. Under these two, voices he did not know wove in and out of his consciousness, these whispered horrid things to him, things he had done, things he had ordered, all of his faults, all of the lies, all of the callousness that he had shown to his loyal crew and loving uncle. He was falling. Falling through unhealthy blackness filled with pain and suffering and torment until he decided to listen to the blue dragon, to curl up, and go to sleep. Sleep… sleep…

Just as he began to slip away, he felt a comforting warmth wrap around him. He opened his eyes to see nothing but blackness. But this blackness was not sick, or unhealthy. In fact, it reminded him of a night sky without clouds, boundless, yet the provider of comforting boundaries, vast, and yet limited. Looking around he saw a figure with wings as black as midnight, like a raven's, battling the nightmare demons, forcing them back, making them vanish. The figure bound the blue dragon that had used his sister's voice with ropes of shimmering blue before stabbing it through the heart. At that exact moment, the alien blackness dissolved leaving only the figure with the black wings, and Zuko. The figure turned to look at him…

All at once Zuko found himself back in the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. Surrounded by that beauty he beheld his savior:

A girl. Perhaps she was two years younger than him, but so beautiful, with dark skin and hair. She was dressed in a simple blue dress and dark blue leggings; she was so familiar, her stance, her features, her eyes… He could not pull his gaze away from her amazing eyes for a long while. They were bright blue, so strange in such a dark face. And they radiated a sort of quiet, calm, passion. He would have said that they burned, but no, that was the wrong word for these ceruleans orbs. They contained all the ferocity of the ocean, all the feelings that moving water could convey. They were emotion incarnate. And her wings, black as a raven's, _An Angel, _he thought_, this angel saved me. This beautiful angel. The angel from my nightmares… _and as he thought this, the oasis began to dissolve. He was waking up. The last things to go were the Angel's eyes. She had leaned in very close to Zuko, so that all he could see were those beautiful globes. He was melting, but as he drifted back into life he heard her whisper: _Remember who you were, and know what you have become… remember and know Zuko…know… know…_

Zuko was standing by the thrown of the earth king, currently being occupied by Azula. Reflecting on recent events he could not get one figure out of his mind,

_(Miss you I miss you)_

The Waterbender.

The girl…

Katara…

He could still recall how he had felt when he had first seen her. How she had come into view in the crystal caverns, how time had stopped, how their eyes had locked.

_ Hello there, the angel from my nightmare_

_The shadow in background of the morgue_

She was the Angel with the black wings! The Waterbender that the Avatar traveled with! He was floored, though not nearly as startled as she was,

"You!" she had cried, venom coming suddenly to her eyes, "Zuko! What are you doing here?! Why do you keep following us?! Why can't you leave Aang alone?!" She was advancing on him, jabbing an accusing finger, "He is trying to help the world, and you can only hunt him. But then what can I expect? You are Fire-Nation… you don't care about anything but yourself! You selfish-"

"Please, I know I have done nothing to deserve your patience, but don't be too harsh. I am imprisoned here, just like you. We have more in common than you th-"

"WE HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON!!" screamed Katara, tears welling suddenly in her eyes, studding them with diamonds, "YOU HAVE KNOW IDEA WHAT THE FIRE NATION HAS DONE TO ME!! What it has done to my family…" she sank to her knees with her back to him, weeping bitterly.

Zuko sat too. "Like I said," he murmured, almost to himself, "we have more in common than you think."

_The unsuspecting victims of darkness in the valley_

_  
We can live like Jack and Sally if we want_

He talked for what must have been hours. Telling her everything about his past, growing up playing second best to Azula, his mother's "disappearance", the Angi Kai with his father, his banishment, his scar.

To his shock, when he finished speaking, he turned around to see Katara very close to him. She was sympathetic about all of it, his mother, his sister, his banishment, all of it. Then she said hesitantly, almost as if she was thinking out loud, "Your scar, I might be able to heal it…"

She offered to use water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole, incredibly valuable, and potent. She spoke soothingly, her words like a salve for his burned soul. He gazed into her eyes, and found sympathy there, kindness, trust. She spoke of healing as she reached up to gently brush his scar, her fingers were cool and dry, solace solidified as they brushed his worn scar and smooth skin. Looking deep into her eyes, and _feeling_ her return the gaze as well as seeing it, he found himself wishing, dreaming, and, was it possible, hoping? This closeness, this intimacy, felt so right to him and she felt so right, this with her felt like the last piece of a frustrating puzzle, clicking into place.

_Where you can always find me_

_  
And we'll have Halloween on Christmas_

_And in the night we'll wish this never ends_

_We'll wish this never ends  
_

The avatar and his uncle,

Katara leaving, looking back over her shoulder,

Azula's arrival, her proposition, Iroh's warning, running after Azula,

The fight, the moment when his fate could go either way,

The fireball…

The Avatar falling,

Iroh fighting,

Katara's eyes, so full of hurt and betrayal,

The tidal wave…

_Where are you and I'm so sorry_

_  
I cannot sleep I cannot dream tonight_

_  
I need somebody and always_

_  
This sick strange darkness comes creeping on so haunting every time_

All of his dreams were full of that unhealthy blackness and this time, the Angel ignored him. She was there, but she was always holding another boy, perhaps twelve, comforting him. The only looks she could spare Zuko were ones of hurt and betrayal.

_ And as I stared I counted the webs from all the spiders_

_  
Catching things and eating their insides_

He could not get her out of his head. The memories of the crystal cave, and that moment when she touched his face filled him with an empty feeling, a sick feeling. He wanted that back so bad, that feeling like all was right with the world, Azula had broken the puzzle when she had offered him his honor back, she always had liked destroying his things

_Like indecision to call you_

_  
And hear your voice of reason_

Right, wrong; he didn't know anything anymore. Nothing was certain. He wanted Katara, he wanted his rightful place as heir to the thrown of the Fire Lord, he wanted to trust Azula, and he wanted to feel as whole as he had felt surrounded by crystal with water in his arms.

_Will you come home and stop this pain tonight_

He needed to escape this torment, but the Angel would not speak to him, so he thought about what she had said the last time, _Remember who you were, and know what you have become… remember and know Zuko…know… know… _ they wouldn't stop echoing in his head,

_Stop this pain tonight_

… _Remember and know Zuko…know… know_…they wouldn't stop echoing…

**And he didn't want them to.**

_Don't waste your time on me your already the voice inside my head_

_I miss you I miss you_

_Don't waste your time on me your already the voice inside my head_

_I miss you I miss you_

_Don't waste your time on me your already the voice inside my head _

_I miss you I miss you_

_Don't waste your time on me your already the voice inside my head_

_I miss you I miss you_

_Don't waste your time on me your already the voice inside my head_

_I miss you I miss you_

_Don't waste your time on me your already the voice inside my head_

Katara…

I miss you.

I miss you…


End file.
